Butser, Beltain and the Wicker Man

Butser hill is the highest point in Hampshire, it was also an Iron Age hill fort. It is a fantastic spot for a wild walk or picnic. Nearby, on the other side of the A3 main road, lies Butser Ancient Farm, an experimental, archaeologically accurate farmstead.

Butser is an interesting place for school children to visit and experience what it might have been like to live under the conditions of ancient man (without any screens).

Each year around the beginning of May Butser hosts a Beltain festival, to celebrate the lengthening of the days in a suitable May fayre style.

There is lots of daytime entertainment, including flint napping (creating Stone Age tools and weapons), bronze smelting, weapon training, Roman soldiers, wood crafting, story telling, astronomy, live folk music, Maypole dancing, food and drink, drumming, fancy dress and, as the dusk draws in, the burning of an enormous Wicker Man.

We always try to get along and we always have a fantastic time, this year was no exception. Since that day, I have seen swifts, swallows and house martins, so the warmer weather is definitely on the way.

Triangular Leeks or Wild Garlic

We visited Devon for a short break in April and as we walked around the countryside and woodland paths, we could frequently smell the pungent aroma of Wild Garlic.

There are places where whole banks are swathed with Garlic plants, many of them now in flower.

There is a plant in Devon that is related to the Wild Garlic and seen by some as an invasive weed; locals call it the Triangular Leek, it tastes and smells very similar to the garlic.

Our children like to make Garlic bread by finely chopping Wild Garlic leaves, mixing it with butter, then spreading it on toast. It makes for a very tasty substitute; we have also done this with chives that we found growing wild at our Southampton allotment, we toasted the bread on a fire this time.

Elderflowers are now blooming in the hedgerows, heralding the onset of the Summer months. Plums are ripening and I have already seen red cherries in some early trees.